Breast-pump mom 'humiliated': Know your travel rights, parents. A flight attendant refused to allow Dawnella Brahos to use her breast-pump, a violation of American Airlines policy. Similarly, a TSA agent hassled a mom with a breast pump in Hawaii.
A TSA officer signals an airline passenger forward at a security check-point at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in SeaTac, Wash. A mother in Hawaii with a breast-pump found getting her equipment through the check point was a challenge.
(AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File)
EnlargeTwo recent cases of traveling breast-pumping moms resulted in their unnecessary humiliation. These cases also help illustrate the rights of breast-pumping moms in the face of ignorance or poor training.
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David Clark Scott leads a small team at CSMonitor.com that?s part Skunkworks, part tech-training, part journalism.
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On April 18, a flight attendant loudly and repeatedly refused to let Dawnella Brahos use her breast-pump on a flight from Minneapolis to Chicago.
The harassment came even though Mrs. Brahos had checked on breast-pumping when she made her flight reservations, and had been told her Medela pump was pre-approved. And the incident occurred after Brahos had flown on three other American flights and used the breast-pump with the full support of the flight attendants.
But on April 18, she told Fox Channel 32 in Chicago that she had been 'humiliated' and 'embarrassed' as the flight attendant told her upon boarding that breast-pumping - however discretely done - was not allowed. The flight attendant repeatedly checked on Brahos to make sure she wasn't using her breast pump.
The mother of three wasn't traveling with her 1-year-old son. She told The New York Daily News that she normally pumps every three and a half hours and began feeling painfully engorged during the normally short flight because it took off late and she'd spent the previous few hours checking out of a hotel, traveling to the airport, checking in with American and going through security.
American Airlines has issued a statement of apology: "We apologize for the experience Ms. Brahos had on a recent flight. Our in-flight personnel are trained to handle these situations with professionalism and discretion. American does not have a policy prohibiting the use of breast pumps in-flight. As with other devices that have an on/off switch, customers will be asked not to use them during takeoff and landing. Our procedures advise our crews to ensure that mothers who are breast feeding or using breast pumps have the privacy they need."
An American spokesman said Brahos needed no prior approval for using her Medela pump. A different brand of pump would have required prior approval, she said.
Another breast-pumping mom was embarrassed by a TSA agent at a security check point. On March 27, Amy Strand was stopped at Lihue Airport in Kauai as she carried her pump, a cooler pack, and empty milk bottles. She was told by the TSA agent that she couldn't bring the cooler pack unless there was milk in the bottles.
Ms. Strand, a mother of four and school principal, tried to explain that the ice pack was specially made for the cooler and wouldn't be easy to replace.? And, that she'd emptied the milk out before going through security to avoid carrying more than 3 ounces of liquid.
Strand said she only had two options: Leave part of the cooler behind or pump. There was no private place to pump so she went to the women's restroom. "I'm in a dress, in heels and I find myself in front of a sink and mirrors with travelers coming in and out of the bathroom," Amy Strand told ABCNews.com. "I'm standing at the sink with my breast hanging out, pumping. I wanted to cry. I was humiliated."
Like American Airlines, the TSA issued a statement apologizing for the ignorance of its agent. "The passenger has contacted us with her concerns and we accept responsibility for the apparent misunderstanding and any inconvenience or embarrassment this incident may have caused her," the statement said. "The officer in question is receiving remedial training."
In fact, the TSA website specifically addresses this situation and the current screening procedures."Parents flying with, and without, their child(ren) are permitted to bring breast milk in quantities greater than three ounces as long as it is presented for inspection at the security checkpoint. Additionally, empty bottles and ice packs are permitted under these conditions."
Moms and Dads, bookmark the TSA page, and carry it with you on your phone. Just in case.
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Chicago-based loyalty platform Belly?is expanding into the enterprise with a rebuilt platform designed for corporate and multi-store businesses. The company, which began by focusing on the small-to-medium sized merchant, is now working with more than 100 enterprise-level accounts with more than 600 locations, says co-founder and CEO Logan LaHive, noting this now represents 10 percent of Belly’s total network, as well as its fastest-growing channel to date. One of these enterprise chains is a large, well-known convenience store brand, but Belly is not permitted to disclose that company by name, we were told. However, a promotional email recently sent to the Chicago Belly customer base basically gave it away: The email was touting a contest that would allow Belly users a chance to win free Slurpees for a year at area 7-Eleven stores. Specifically, the email said that “…you can now Belly at all 7-Eleven Chicago locations.” 7-Eleven is also live on the Belly website here. A search on Belly’s location finder also shows 7-Eleven as supporting Belly in a few Massachusetts locations outside of Chicago too, including Boston. The site reveals a few other big-name brands apparently running similar trials, including The UPS Store,?Buffalo Wild Wings, Bosch Automotive, and?Dairy Queen, to name a few. It’s unclear for now to what extent these represent pilot programs versus some deeper commitment with the loyalty platform, but the company says the potential reach of its enterprise accounts includes nearly 200,000 locations. Though Belly can’t really talk about its enterprise customers by name, LaHive says that the company’s entry into this space initially began with inquiries from franchise owners in markets where Belly had traction. Today, that includes around 15 key regions across the U.S., such as San Francisco, New York, Boston, Chicago, Austin, Milwaukee, Madison, Washington D.C., Miami, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Denver, Boulder, and others. L.A. and Atlanta are also two new, and rapidly growing additions. Belly, for those unfamiliar, allows users to check-in to a location using a physical loyalty card or app that is scanned at point-of-sale. Like a digital punchcard, customers collect points that can later be redeemed for rewards offered by the business. In January, the company also rolled out “Belly Bites,” a customer?acquisition?platform that targets new customers based on demographics, shopping patterns, historical interactions on Belly, and more. The Bites program currently has around 200 live campaigns from Belly merchants. Combined, Belly now serves more than 5,000 locations
